


New Heights

by bmcbapej



Series: Bemily Week (2018) [2]
Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Bemily Week, Day 2, F/F, Height Differences
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-12
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2019-03-30 11:57:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13951089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bmcbapej/pseuds/bmcbapej
Summary: Emily thinks the Bellas’ version of hide-and-seek more closely resembles the Hunger Games than the friendly childhood activity she remembers.





	New Heights

**Author's Note:**

> I swear to the Aca-Gods this started off as a normal height-difference fic when I planned it but when I actually wrote it this happened. I'm still technically in the theme and if PP3 has taught me anything, outlandish plots are canon so enjoy.
> 
> Day 2: Height Difference

Emily really should have been more concerned when the idea of hide-and-seek had first come up as a Bella Bonding activity. First of all, every single one of these events had ended in some form of disaster or outlandish scenario so she really shouldn’t have expected any differently (even something as simple as a picnic in the park had resulted in a literal wild goose chase and half of them in the lake). Secondly it was scheduled as a day-long event so it obviously shouldn’t have been as simple as it sounded. Thirdly, _Lilly_ had suggested it.

If those weren’t enough red flags, she should have paid more attention to what she’d signed up for when Aubrey arrived at the Bella House on Friday. After Emily had mentioned what they’d be doing on Saturday, she’s met with a small frown and the ominous words, “Oh, if someone had told me earlier I would have packed some flare guns.” She doesn’t have time to clarify whether or not she’s misheard the former captain since she’s running late for a class, but surely Aubrey had said something along the lines of packing ‘spare runners’.

She’s awoken at the crack of dawn the next day by a large duffel bag being thrown on her bed. “Come on, Legacy, if we’re not all ready soon someone’s going to skin our asses – probably Aubrey but I wouldn’t put it past Lilly to ‘eliminate the competition’ early.” Emily’s usually a morning person but not _this early_ in the morning. She must be still sleeping because she swears Cynthia-Rose is decked out in a full camouflage outfit.

She wasn’t dreaming. Her eyes widened as she took in all the equipment inside the heavy bag. There was a camouflage outfit in her size, a flare gun, a first aid kit, two water bottles, a compass, and a map. Deciding she must have missed some sort of memo, she trails downstairs to find answers. The Bellas are running around the house like headless chickens and it reminds her a little of that time they spent at the Lodge of the Fallen Leaves – back before they had found ‘their sound’.

“You can’t pack nun-chucks, that’s cheating!”

“Should I bring something in case we get attacked by bees again?”

“Has anyone seen my balaclava?”

In amongst the chaos is a single Bella (also dressed in camouflage) snoozing on the couch next to an identical duffel bag, only this one looked so much bigger next to the short girl. Ordinarily she wouldn’t wake up her captain this early in the day unless her life depended on it, but judging by what was happening around her, that might actually be the case.

“Beca, Beca wake up.” Even though her shakes where gentle, it didn’t stop the other girl from violently rousing.

“IT WASN’T ME!” Realising that she had only been dreaming, Beca looked around in confusion. “Is it time to go already?”

“Where are we going?”

“We’re doing Bella Bonding or whatever, aren’t we?”

“Well, yes. But why does that involve packing for a black ops camping trip at 5 in the morning?”

Beca eyed her wearily. “Did no one explain to you how hide-and-seek works.” Beca had been busy at her internship the night they voted on an activity, not that it mattered because Lilly had won by a landslide (mostly due to over half the Bellas owing her a favor for one reason or another).

“I know how to play hide-and-seek. Everyone hides except one person who goes looking for them after counting down.”

“Yeah, don’t say that in front of Aubrey because, and I quote, ‘That kiddie game is hide- ** _or_** -seek. We’re here to play hide- ** _and_** -seek.’. Long story short, it’s like paintballing but every woman for herself. And instead of guns we use slingshots because they hurt less and ‘it requires more skill’.”

“Oh, wow. That’s, umm...”

“Insane?”

“I was going to say _different_ , but I won’t argue with you there.”

They hear the smoke alarm temporarily go off in the hallway, followed by an Australian voice shouting, “Don’t worry, I’ve got it all under control!”

Beca sighs as she rolls off the couch. “Yeah, I’m not getting any more shut-eye. You had breakfast yet?” Emily shakes her head. “Alright, get changed and bring your stuff downstairs and I’ll make some pancakes.”

Her usual excitement at the prospect of pancakes is dimmed a little by anxiety. It doesn’t help that she catches a fleeting glimpse of Flo stuffing a mini fire-extinguisher into her own duffel bag.

Her heart rate increases exponentially upon her return to the living space downstairs. Beca is balanced precariously on top of the kitchen counter in an attempt to reach a container of chocolate chips on the top shelf. Emily rushes over to hover behind the shorter girl in case she falls. It’s not necessary but that doesn’t stop Emily from saying something, “Be careful! You could have fallen!”

“Well if everyone stopped using that goddamn shelf Flo and I wouldn’t need to use the counter. It’s fine, I’ve only fallen off, like, once.” Emily stared concernedly, that was one time too many. “Okay maybe twice but that second time wasn’t my fault.”

“Next time just get someone else to help you, please.” Beca looked nonplussed at the idea of needing assistance. “Or I could buy you one of those claw-grabby things.”

Beca rolled her eyes affectionately and decided to ignore the suggestion. “Let’s start frying these babies. You like choc-chip, right?”

* * *

 Beca was right, this whole thing was _insane_. Emily sits in disbelief at the back of the bus as Chloe starts debriefing them on the rules and safety protocols for the day. She looks around to see almost everyone else ignoring the redhead as if it was something they had already heard every other day (Beca looked as if she was sleeping beneath her sunglasses). The only people aside from herself paying attention were Ashley, who looked as if she was writing notes on the back of her hand, and Aubrey, who was nodding along as if everything was as it should be.

As they travel further and further away from civilization, Emily can’t help but compare the surroundings to some of the horror movies and serial killer shows she’s been watching as of late. If she dies today, she hopes someone remembers to water the plants in her room.

* * *

 The rest of the day shapes up to be fun and not as dangerous as she had originally predicted. It seems most of the safety precautions were just that – precautions. Apparently, the last time they had tried this it had ended up involving a disturbed beehive and a trip to the hospital, so it stands to reason they would have taken that into account. Jessica’s scream when she accidentally mistook a pile of trash for a snake was the scariest thing to have happened that day.

Emily is having the time of her life even though she just _knows_ she’ll be sore the next day from all the incidental cardio they’ve been doing. The only one who doesn’t seem tired is Beca and Emily has a sneaking suspicion it’s because the older girl has been doing no running whatsoever. They’re playing timed rounds so that whoever gets caught out first doesn’t have to wait forever to join back into the game. Every time they regroup, a smirking Beca is always the last one to arrive without a single speck of paint on her. Granted she also hasn’t gotten anyone else out, but Emily is determined to be the first to break that non-losing streak.

It’s the last game of the day and Emily is riding a high. After an intense stand-off she manages to dodge a shot from Fat Amy _and_ accurately return fire. It’s then immediately followed up by her eliminating Stacie and _Lilly_ of all people (though the latter was more sheer dumb luck than skill). She knows everyone else has been caught – that is, everyone except Beca. After conferring with the other Bellas (there were no rules against collaborating) she heads to the one section of the woods that none of them have been to this round. It’s obvious now that Beca is probably simply hiding.

Emily is being the sneakiest of sneaks right now as she approaches the river on the edge of the grounds. That is until she accidentally gets her foot stuck in a tree root. Trying to quietly manoeuvre her way out is easier said than done. Deciding to a try a more direct approach, she tucks her slingshot into the waistband of her pants and yanks her leg a few times with both hands. Unfortunately, she only ends up falling on her butt. Groaning from the ground, she looks up and is immediately met with a pair of blue-steel eyes peering down at her from up in the trees.

Instinctively making a grab for her slingshot she twists her body a little too far and yelps as a pain shoots up her leg. Abandoning her weapon, she straightens out and takes a closer look at her foot. Hearing more than seeing Beca make her way down the tree, she frowns as she realises she has probably sprained her ankle. A shadow casts over her and she hears a worried, “Are you alright?”

Sighing a little at how the day was going to end, she decided she might as well look on the bright side of things. Loading her slingshot in one fluid movement, she flings a miniature paintball at Beca square in the chest. “I think it’s sprained, but I won!”

The disbelieving look staring down at her is almost worth the damage.

* * *

 It’s definitely sprained but it’s only a minor injury that shouldn’t take too long to heal. That doesn’t stop the Bellas from being their over-the-top selves. Chloe rents a wheelchair and she’s confined to the blasted thing even though she knows that crutches would be fine. Heck, even a singular crutch was probably enough for her to get by. She decides to humor the girls though and it is kind of fun to be wheeled around.

An unintended side-effect of the chair is it makes her shorter. As in shorter than Flo who was the shortest of all the Bellas. It’s an eye-opening experience for her. Emily hasn’t been short since, well, since she was a baby. She shot up in height all at once and she shot up early.

She watches a little in awe at how different but similar everything is as Beca is wheeling her towards the campus ice-cream store. She can’t stop herself from blurting out, “How do you not find crowds scary?”

“What?” Beca slows down a little.

“Like, everyone is so tall. How do you not feel like you’re going to get lost. I can’t see over anyone!”

“It helps if you just avoid people in general.”

“Ha-ha. I’m serious.”

Emily can almost feel the shrug Beca’s most likely giving her from behind. “I don’t really know what you mean. It’s never been a big deal for me.”

It’s amazing the change in perspective that a couple of inches gives her. Like for instance, looking up at Beca while she was standing was completely different (Emily’s always looked up to her figuratively, she’s just never expected to be doing it literally one day). Emily couldn’t explain it, it was the same face (obviously) but something about the way the sun was illuminating her features was letting Emily see her in a new light.

She’s always thought that Beca was pretty (so were all the other Bellas of course) but she can’t seem to stop herself from staring. As if feeling her gaze, Beca turns around and quirks up an eyebrow, “What are you looking at, weirdo?”

“Nothing!” Emily’s response comes out at a higher pitch than she would have liked.

“Right, so that’s why you’re just letting that ice cream melt in your hands? If you hate the flavor we can swap.” Beca holds her hand out and points her cone towards Emily as an offering.

Emily doesn’t know what possesses her to do what she does next. She could blame it on her medication or the sugar rush from candy she had earlier that morning, but she does something impulsive. Pushing herself out of her chair, one hand clutching a nearby handrail, she captures Beca’s lips into a searing kiss. It tastes like a mixture of choc-mint and vanilla (for understandable reasons) and she doesn’t want it to end. But it does because they both have to breathe. When they part and Beca’s eyes flutter open, the weight of what she’s done begins to sink in.

Before Emily can apologize, Beca snorts a little as she responds with, “Maybe our ice creams taste better together, huh?”

Emily’s heart is still beating fast but she’s probably not going to have a panic attack. Nothing can ruin this moment. Not even the man yelling “It’s a miracle!” at her when he exits the shop and sees her out of her wheelchair.

* * *

 The next morning Emily wakes up to a long awkwardly-wrapped present by her bed. The note reads:

_If you ever need a helping hand  
-Beca_

Emily laughs out loud when she unwraps the gift to find a clawed grabber tool. When Emily gets out of this chair she’s going to buy Beca stilts so they can ‘see eye-to-eye’.

**Author's Note:**

> Emily's temporary change in height really is a height ~difference~ :P


End file.
